Reference architecture
Encyclopedia
A reference architecture in the field of software architecture
or enterprise architecture
provides a template solution for an architecture for a particular domain. It also provides a common vocabulary with which to discuss implementations, often with the aim to stress commonality. A reference software architecture is a software architecture
where the structures and respective elements and relations provide templates for concrete architectures in a particular domain or in a family of software systems.
A reference architecture often consists of a list of functions and some indication of their interfaces (or APIs) and interactions with each other and with functions located outside of the scope of the reference architecture.
Reference architectures can be defined at different levels of abstraction. A highly abstract one might show different pieces of equipment on a communications network, each providing different functions. A lower level one might demonstrate the interactions of procedures (or methods
) within a computer program defined to perform a very specific task.
A reference architecture provides a template, often based on the generalization of a set of solutions. These solutions may have been generalized and structured for the depiction of one or more architecture structures based on the harvesting of a set of patterns that have been observed in a number of successful implementations. Further it shows how to compose these parts together into a solution. Reference Architectures will be instantiated for a particular domain or for specific projects.
Software architecture
The software architecture of a system is the set of structures needed to reason about the system, which comprise software elements, relations among them, and properties of both...
or enterprise architecture
Enterprise architecture
An enterprise architecture is a rigorous description of the structure of an enterprise, which comprises enterprise components , the externally visible properties of those components, and the relationships between them...
provides a template solution for an architecture for a particular domain. It also provides a common vocabulary with which to discuss implementations, often with the aim to stress commonality. A reference software architecture is a software architecture
Software architecture
The software architecture of a system is the set of structures needed to reason about the system, which comprise software elements, relations among them, and properties of both...
where the structures and respective elements and relations provide templates for concrete architectures in a particular domain or in a family of software systems.
A reference architecture often consists of a list of functions and some indication of their interfaces (or APIs) and interactions with each other and with functions located outside of the scope of the reference architecture.
Reference architectures can be defined at different levels of abstraction. A highly abstract one might show different pieces of equipment on a communications network, each providing different functions. A lower level one might demonstrate the interactions of procedures (or methods
Method (computer science)
In object-oriented programming, a method is a subroutine associated with a class. Methods define the behavior to be exhibited by instances of the associated class at program run time...
) within a computer program defined to perform a very specific task.
A reference architecture provides a template, often based on the generalization of a set of solutions. These solutions may have been generalized and structured for the depiction of one or more architecture structures based on the harvesting of a set of patterns that have been observed in a number of successful implementations. Further it shows how to compose these parts together into a solution. Reference Architectures will be instantiated for a particular domain or for specific projects.
Examples
- The Java Platform, Enterprise EditionJava Platform, Enterprise EditionJava Platform, Enterprise Edition or Java EE is widely used platform for server programming in the Java programming language. The Java platform differs from the Java Standard Edition Platform in that it adds libraries which provide functionality to deploy fault-tolerant, distributed, multi-tier...
(Java EE) architecture is a layered reference architecture which provides a template solution for many enterprise systems developed in Java. The reference architecture addresses problems commonly encountered for enterprise systems including scalability, reliability and security.
- The IBM Insurance Application Architecture is a reference architecture for the Insurance domain. This reference architecture from IBMIBMInternational Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
encapsulates Insurance domain best practices in the form of business process, business activities, business objects, business rules, etc.
- AUTOSARAUTOSARAUTOSAR is an open and standardized automotive software architecture, jointly developed by automobile manufacturers, suppliers and tool developers...
is a component-basedComponent-based software engineeringComponent-based software engineering is a branch of software engineering that emphasizes the separation of concerns in respect of the wide-ranging functionality available throughout a given software system...
reference architecture for automotive software architectures.
- Unisys 3D Blueprints are a collection of reference architectures from UnisysUnisysUnisys Corporation , headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, United States, and incorporated in Delaware, is a long established business whose core products now involves computing and networking.-History:...
Corp. for diverse domains such as financial services, communications, public sector, transportation, consumer & industrial products.
See also
- Business reference modelBusiness reference modelBusiness reference model is a reference model, concentrating on the functional and organizational aspects of the core business of an enterprise, service organization or government agency....
- Enterprise Architecture framework
- Generalised Enterprise Reference Architecture and MethodologyGeneralised Enterprise Reference Architecture and MethodologyGeneralised Enterprise Reference Architecture and Methodology is a generalised Enterprise Architecture framework for enterprise integration and business process engineering. It identifies the set of components recommended for use in enterprise engineering.This framework is developed in the 1990s...
(GERAM) - Reference modelReference ModelA reference model in systems, enterprise, and software engineering is a model of something that embodies the basic goal or idea of something and can then be looked at as a reference for various purposes.- Overview :...